Thurs, 23 July 15
I went and trained with Mike and Eric today and had a great time as usual. Being able to train with strong athletes who are also experienced coaches is really one of the best things ever. I took it for granted because when I started in strongman, I had a group of guys who were all at that level and we all coached each other and helped to correct technique problems and everyone got a lot better a lot quicker. And possibly even more important, we all listened to whoever was watching us and trying to help us. The greatest coach in the world is virtually useless if the advice he or she is trying to impart falls on deaf, stubborn, or stupid ears. Meanwhile, having to critique myself based on feel, mirrors, and/or video is much more difficult and much less effective. Where you train and who you train with cannot be over valued when it comes to making progress and getting better. So even though I did not do anything earth shattering today, I definitely got a lot out of this training session and left feeling positive about everything.
3 Position Snatches (hip, below knee, floor=1 rep)
complex x 45
1x65
1x85
1x105
2x1x125
1x135 - Some of the stuff I was doing I knew I was doing from watching video, but I wasn't necessarily consciously working to improve it. Just having Eric and Mike there to verbalize it helped me focus on correcting it much more than if I had been training solo. Also, both were able to offer different explanations of things I was doing and how to approach correcting them.
Split Jerks from Rack
4x95
3x135
2x185
3x225
3x245 - These were all very easy, but lowering the bar back to my shoulders felt bad in all kinds of ways. I never train overhead with a barbell unless I am using bumpers or jerk boxes and can drop the weight and having to catch a barbell versus an axle or log was not a friendly feeling at all so I stopped after 245. I also am not usually a big fan of doing overhead work from the rack since it doesn't matter in competition what you can press if you can't clean it first.
Fat Gripz Incline Bench
10x45
10x135
3x185
3x205
3x225 - I don't know if it was from using the fat gripz and having a slightly larger ROM, or from catching the bar after the jerks, but both my elbows were bothering me during all sets besides the empty bar. If this persists I will first try changing the incline and if that fails then I will switch to a different exercise.
Lat Pulldowns
10x115
10x145
2x10x175 - For some reason the pulldown bar felt like it was sub-standard size. Not sure if it was me or if it was really just a P.O.S. Great day today and big thanks again to Eric and Mike for all their help.